diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2d5462d1..51520b99 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,11 +14,16 @@ data8assets/
 summer/
 test-repo/
 venv/
+.idea/
 
 .ipynb_checkpoints
 docs/_build
 
+jupyterhub.sqlite
+jupyterhub_cookie_secret
+/jupyterhub-proxy.pid
+
 node_modules/
 package-lock.json
+nbgitpuller/static/dist
 
-nbgitpuller/static/dist
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/dev-requirements.txt b/dev-requirements.txt
index f797739a..bb21db7a 100644
--- a/dev-requirements.txt
+++ b/dev-requirements.txt
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@ jupyter-packaging>=0.10
 pytest
 pytest-cov
 flake8
-nbclassic
+nbclassic
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/nbgitpuller/handlers.py b/nbgitpuller/handlers.py
index f83ad7d5..07b3a279 100644
--- a/nbgitpuller/handlers.py
+++ b/nbgitpuller/handlers.py
@@ -6,13 +6,14 @@
 import threading
 import json
 import os
-from queue import Queue, Empty
+from queue import Queue
 import jinja2
 
 from .pull import GitPuller
 from .version import __version__
 
 
+
 class SyncHandler(IPythonHandler):
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
@@ -38,6 +39,37 @@ def emit(self, data):
         self.write('data: {}\n\n'.format(serialized_data))
         yield self.flush()
 
+    @gen.coroutine
+    def _wait_for_sync_progress_queue(self, queue):
+        """
+        The loop below constantly checks the queue parameter for messages
+        that are being sent to the UI so the user is kept aware of progress related to
+        the downloading of archives and the merging of files into the user's home folder
+
+        :param queue: download_queue or the original pull queue
+        """
+        while True:
+            if queue.empty():
+                yield gen.sleep(0.5)
+                continue
+            progress = queue.get_nowait()
+            if progress is None:
+                return
+            if isinstance(progress, Exception):
+                self.emit({
+                    'phase': 'error',
+                    'message': str(progress),
+                    'output': '\n'.join([
+                        line.strip()
+                        for line in traceback.format_exception(
+                            type(progress), progress, progress.__traceback__
+                        )
+                    ])
+                })
+                return
+
+            self.emit({'output': progress, 'phase': 'syncing'})
+
     @web.authenticated
     @gen.coroutine
     def get(self):
@@ -51,8 +83,11 @@ def get(self):
             return
 
         try:
+            q = Queue()
+
             repo = self.get_argument('repo')
             branch = self.get_argument('branch', None)
+            content_provider = self.get_argument('contentProvider', None)
             depth = self.get_argument('depth', None)
             if depth:
                 depth = int(depth)
@@ -73,11 +108,8 @@ def get(self):
             self.set_header('content-type', 'text/event-stream')
             self.set_header('cache-control', 'no-cache')
 
-            gp = GitPuller(repo, repo_dir, branch=branch, depth=depth, parent=self.settings['nbapp'])
-
-            q = Queue()
-
             def pull():
+                gp = GitPuller(repo, repo_dir, branch=branch, depth=depth, parent=self.settings['nbapp'], content_provider=content_provider, repo_parent_dir=repo_parent_dir, other_kw_args=self.request.arguments.items())
                 try:
                     for line in gp.pull():
                         q.put_nowait(line)
@@ -86,34 +118,12 @@ def pull():
                 except Exception as e:
                     q.put_nowait(e)
                     raise e
-            self.gp_thread = threading.Thread(target=pull)
 
+            self.gp_thread = threading.Thread(target=pull)
             self.gp_thread.start()
-
-            while True:
-                try:
-                    progress = q.get_nowait()
-                except Empty:
-                    yield gen.sleep(0.5)
-                    continue
-                if progress is None:
-                    break
-                if isinstance(progress, Exception):
-                    self.emit({
-                        'phase': 'error',
-                        'message': str(progress),
-                        'output': '\n'.join([
-                            line.strip()
-                            for line in traceback.format_exception(
-                                type(progress), progress, progress.__traceback__
-                            )
-                        ])
-                    })
-                    return
-
-                self.emit({'output': progress, 'phase': 'syncing'})
-
+            yield self._wait_for_sync_progress_queue(q)
             self.emit({'phase': 'finished'})
+
         except Exception as e:
             self.emit({
                 'phase': 'error',
@@ -151,6 +161,7 @@ def get(self):
         repo = self.get_argument('repo')
         branch = self.get_argument('branch', None)
         depth = self.get_argument('depth', None)
+        content_provider = self.get_argument('contentProvider', None)
         urlPath = self.get_argument('urlpath', None) or \
                   self.get_argument('urlPath', None)
         subPath = self.get_argument('subpath', None) or \
@@ -171,10 +182,19 @@ def get(self):
             else:
                 path = 'tree/' + path
 
+        if content_provider is not None:
+            path = "tree/"
+
         self.write(
             self.render_template(
                 'status.html',
-                repo=repo, branch=branch, path=path, depth=depth, targetpath=targetpath, version=__version__
+                repo=repo,
+                branch=branch,
+                path=path,
+                depth=depth,
+                contentProvider=content_provider,
+                targetpath=targetpath,
+                version=__version__
             ))
         self.flush()
 
diff --git a/nbgitpuller/plugin_hook_specs.py b/nbgitpuller/plugin_hook_specs.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e6703ad9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nbgitpuller/plugin_hook_specs.py
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import pluggy
+
+# this hookspec is decorating the handle_files function below. The decorator defines
+# the interface(hook specifications) for any implementing content-provider plugins. The project name, nbgitpuller,
+# is passed to the constructor for HookspecMarker and HookimplMarker as well as to the constructor for the
+# PluginManager in handlers.py in order to allow the PluginManager.add_hookspecs method to automatically discover
+# all marked functions.
+hookspec = pluggy.HookspecMarker("nbgitpuller")
+
+# As a convenience the hookimpl field can be used by content-provider plugins to decorate the implementations of the
+# handle_files function. A content-provider plugin could create the HookImplMarker itself but in order to register
+# with the PluginManager the name('nbgitpuller') must be used as we do here.
+hookimpl = pluggy.HookimplMarker("nbgitpuller")
+
+
+@hookspec(firstresult=True)
+def handle_files(repo_parent_dir, other_kw_args):
+    """
+    This function must be implemented by content-provider plugins in order to handle the downloading and decompression
+    of a non-git sourced compressed archive.
+
+    The repo_parent_dir is where you will save your downloaded archive
+
+    The parameter, other_kw_args, contains all the arguments you put on the nbgitpuller URL link or passed to GitPuller
+    via CLI. This allows you flexibility to pass information  your content-provider download plugin may need to
+    successfully download source files.
+
+    This function needs to return two pieces of information as a json object:
+        - output_dir -- the is the name of the directory that will hold all the files you want GitPuller to expose
+            for comparison, when git is the source, this is name of git repository you are pulling
+        - origin_repo_path -- this is path to the local git repo that "acts" like the remote origin you would use
+            if the content-provider is git.
+
+    Once the files are saved to the directory, git puller can handle all the standard functions needed to make sure
+    source files are updated or created as needed.
+
+    I suggest you study the function handle_files_helper in file plugin_helper.py found in the
+    nbgitpuller-downloader-plugins repository to get a deep sense of how
+    we handle the downloading of compressed archives. There is also more documentation in the docs section of
+    nbgitpuller. Finally, you can always implement the entire download process yourself and not use the
+    handle_files_helper function but please to sure understand what is being passed into and back to the nbgitpuller
+    handlers.
+
+    :param str repo_parent_dir: save your downloaded archive here
+    :param dict other_kw_args: this includes any argument you put on the nbgitpuller URL or pass via CLI as a dict
+    :return two parameter json output_dir and origin_repo_path
+    :rtype json object
+    """
diff --git a/nbgitpuller/pull.py b/nbgitpuller/pull.py
index cc18ac97..6ffc34c1 100644
--- a/nbgitpuller/pull.py
+++ b/nbgitpuller/pull.py
@@ -4,9 +4,23 @@
 import time
 import argparse
 import datetime
+import pluggy
+import importlib_metadata
+import inspect
 from traitlets import Integer, default
 from traitlets.config import Configurable
 from functools import partial
+import plugin_hook_specs
+
+
+class ContentProviderException(Exception):
+    """
+    Custom Exception thrown when the content_provider key specifying
+    the downloader plugin is not installed or can not be found by the
+    name given
+    """
+    def __init__(self, response=None):
+        self.response = response
 
 
 def execute_cmd(cmd, **kwargs):
@@ -45,6 +59,40 @@ def flush():
             raise subprocess.CalledProcessError(ret, cmd)
 
 
+def load_downloader_plugin_classes_from_entrypoints(group, content_provider):
+    for dist in list(importlib_metadata.distributions()):
+        for ep in dist.entry_points:
+            if ep.group == group:
+                plugin = ep.load()
+                for name, cls in inspect.getmembers(plugin, inspect.isclass):
+                    if cls.__module__ == ep.value and ep.name == content_provider:
+                        for fn_name, fn in inspect.getmembers(cls, inspect.isfunction):
+                            if fn_name == "handle_files":
+                                return cls
+    return None
+
+
+def setup_plugins(content_provider):
+    """
+    This automatically searches for and loads packages whose entrypoint is nbgitpuller. If found,
+    the plugin manager object is returned and used to execute the hook implemented by
+    the plugin.
+    :param content_provider: this is the name of the content_provider; each plugin is named to identify the
+    content_provider of the archive to be loaded(e.g. googledrive, dropbox, etc)
+    :return: returns the PluginManager object used to call the implemented hooks of the plugin
+    :raises: ContentProviderException -- this occurs when the content_provider parameter is not found
+    """
+    plugin_manager = pluggy.PluginManager("nbgitpuller")
+    plugin_manager.add_hookspecs(plugin_hook_specs)
+    download_class = load_downloader_plugin_classes_from_entrypoints("nbgitpuller", content_provider)
+    downloader_obj = download_class()
+    #num_loaded = plugin_manager.load_setuptools_entrypoints("nbgitpuller", name=content_provider)
+    if download_class is None:
+        raise ContentProviderException(f"The content_provider key you supplied in the URL could not be found: {content_provider}")
+    plugin_manager.register(downloader_obj)
+    return {"plugin_manager": plugin_manager, "downloader_obj": downloader_obj }
+
+
 class GitPuller(Configurable):
     depth = Integer(
         config=True,
@@ -71,12 +119,9 @@ def __init__(self, git_url, repo_dir, **kwargs):
 
         self.git_url = git_url
         self.branch_name = kwargs.pop("branch")
-
-        if self.branch_name is None:
-            self.branch_name = self.resolve_default_branch()
-        elif not self.branch_exists(self.branch_name):
-            raise ValueError(f"Branch: {self.branch_name} -- not found in repo: {self.git_url}")
-
+        self.content_provider = kwargs.pop("content_provider")
+        self.repo_parent_dir = kwargs.pop("repo_parent_dir")
+        self.other_kw_args = kwargs.pop("other_kw_args")
         self.repo_dir = repo_dir
         newargs = {k: v for k, v in kwargs.items() if v is not None}
         super(GitPuller, self).__init__(**newargs)
@@ -135,11 +180,37 @@ def resolve_default_branch(self):
             logging.exception(m)
             raise ValueError(m)
 
+    def handle_archive_download(self):
+        try:
+            plugin_info = setup_plugins(self.content_provider)
+            plugin_manager = plugin_info["plugin_manager"]
+            downloader_obj = plugin_info["downloader_obj"]
+            other_kw_args = {k: v[0].decode() for k, v in self.other_kw_args}
+            yield from plugin_manager.hook.handle_files(repo_parent_dir=self.repo_parent_dir,other_kw_args=other_kw_args)
+            results = downloader_obj.handle_files_results
+            self.repo_dir = self.repo_parent_dir + results["output_dir"]
+            self.git_url = "file://" + results["origin_repo_path"]
+        except ContentProviderException as c:
+            raise c
+
+    def handle_branch_name(self):
+        if self.branch_name is None:
+            self.branch_name = self.resolve_default_branch()
+        elif not self.branch_exists(self.branch_name):
+            raise ValueError(f"Branch: {self.branch_name} -- not found in repo: {self.git_url}")
+
     def pull(self):
         """
-        Pull selected repo from a remote git repository,
+        if compressed archive download first.
+        Execute pull of repo from a git repository(remote or temporary local created for compressed archives),
         while preserving user changes
         """
+        # if content_provider is specified then we are dealing with compressed archive and not a git repo
+        if self.content_provider is not None:
+            yield from self.handle_archive_download()
+
+        self.handle_branch_name()
+
         if not os.path.exists(self.repo_dir):
             yield from self.initialize_repo()
         else:
@@ -303,14 +374,20 @@ def main():
 
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Synchronizes a github repository with a local repository.')
     parser.add_argument('git_url', help='Url of the repo to sync')
-    parser.add_argument('branch_name', default=None, help='Branch of repo to sync', nargs='?')
-    parser.add_argument('repo_dir', default='.', help='Path to clone repo under', nargs='?')
+    parser.add_argument('repo_dir', help='Path to clone repo under', nargs='?')
+    parser.add_argument('--branch_name', default=None, help='Branch of repo to sync', nargs='?')
+    parser.add_argument('--content_provider', default=None, help='If downloading compressed archive instead of using git repo set this(e.g. dropbox, googledrive, generic_web)', nargs='?')
+    parser.add_argument('--repo_parent_dir', default='.', help='Only used if downloading compressed archive, location of download', nargs='?')
+    parser.add_argument('--other_kw_args', default=None, help='you can pass any keyword args you want as a dict{"arg1":"value1","arg2":"value2"} -- could be used in downloader plugins', nargs='?')
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     for line in GitPuller(
         args.git_url,
         args.repo_dir,
-        branch=args.branch_name if args.branch_name else None
+        branch=args.branch_name if args.branch_name else None,
+        content_provider=args.content_provider if args.content_provider else None,
+        repo_parent_dir=args.repo_parent_dir if args.repo_parent_dir else None,
+        other_kw_args=args.other_kw_args if args.other_kw_args else None
     ).pull():
         print(line)
 
diff --git a/nbgitpuller/static/js/index.js b/nbgitpuller/static/js/index.js
index 042aefd6..f51332d1 100644
--- a/nbgitpuller/static/js/index.js
+++ b/nbgitpuller/static/js/index.js
@@ -2,15 +2,15 @@ import { Terminal } from 'xterm';
 import { FitAddon } from 'xterm-addon-fit';
 import css from '../../../node_modules/xterm/css/xterm.css';
 
-function GitSync(baseUrl, repo, branch, depth, targetpath, path) {
+function GitSync(baseUrl, repo, branch, depth, targetpath, path, contentProvider) {
     // Class that talks to the API backend & emits events as appropriate
     this.baseUrl = baseUrl;
     this.repo = repo;
     this.branch = branch;
     this.depth = depth;
     this.targetpath = targetpath;
+    this.contentProvider = contentProvider;
     this.redirectUrl = baseUrl + path;
-
     this.callbacks = {};
 }
 
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ GitSync.prototype.start = function() {
     if (typeof this.branch !== 'undefined' && this.branch != undefined) {
         syncUrlParams['branch'] = this.branch;
     }
+    if (typeof this.contentProvider !== 'undefined' && this.contentProvider != undefined) {
+        syncUrlParams['contentProvider'] = this.contentProvider;
+    }
     var syncUrl = this.baseUrl + 'git-pull/api?' + $.param(syncUrlParams);
 
     this.eventSource = new EventSource(syncUrl);
@@ -139,7 +142,8 @@ var gs = new GitSync(
     get_body_data('branch'),
     get_body_data('depth'),
     get_body_data('targetpath'),
-    get_body_data('path')
+    get_body_data('path'),
+    get_body_data('contentProvider')
 );
 
 var gsv = new GitSyncView(
diff --git a/nbgitpuller/templates/status.html b/nbgitpuller/templates/status.html
index f4388510..3d8a0e18 100644
--- a/nbgitpuller/templates/status.html
+++ b/nbgitpuller/templates/status.html
@@ -7,11 +7,12 @@
 data-path="{{ path | urlencode }}"
 {% if branch %}data-branch="{{ branch | urlencode }}"{% endif %}
 {% if depth %}data-depth="{{ depth | urlencode }}"{% endif %}
+{% if contentProvider %}data-content-provider="{{ contentProvider | urlencode }}"{% endif %}
 data-targetpath="{{ targetpath | urlencode }}"
 {% endblock %}
 
 {% block site %}
-<div class="container"">
+<div class="container">
     <div class="page-header">
         Synchronizing <a href="{{ repo }}">git repository</a> before sending you to <strong>{{ path }}...</strong>
     </div>
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 3efef420..5c3691b3 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
     packages=find_packages(),
     include_package_data=True,
     platforms='any',
-    install_requires=['notebook>=5.5.0', 'jupyter_server>=1.10.1', 'tornado'],
+    install_requires=['notebook>=5.5.0', 'jupyter_server>=1.10.1', 'tornado', 'pluggy'],
     data_files=[
         ('etc/jupyter/jupyter_server_config.d', ['nbgitpuller/etc/jupyter_server_config.d/nbgitpuller.json']),
         ('etc/jupyter/jupyter_notebook_config.d', ['nbgitpuller/etc/jupyter_notebook_config.d/nbgitpuller.json'])